Published: Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 11:34 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 11:34 a.m.

In recent weeks, former deputies Jacob Fonseca and Merlin Daigle have dealt with a lot of good-natured teasing.

The two are among officers featured in “Cajun Justice,” the reality show about the Terrebonne Sheriff's Office, premieres on the A&E network at 9 p.m.

Fonseca and Daigle's co-workers have put up photos printed from the show's website, featuring the men standing stone-faced with arms crossed, in their Pennsylvania office where they are now sales representatives for Blackhawk Specialty Tools.

“We've moved states away, and we still hear about the TV show,” said Fonseca, nicknamed “Funkie Nuts” on the show. “The guys at work tease us every day and told us they set their DVRs to record every show. They've been telling all of our customers about it, and they think it's pretty funny too. ... But I'm going to act the same whether there's a camera behind me or there isn't.”

A&E will show two new episodes back-to-back tonight. Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois is even in California for the show's premiere, a trip that was paid for by the production company, said Maj. Malcolm Wolfe, Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Previews suggest the first two episodes will introduce Bourgeois and some of his deputies and follow several different cases. Deputies respond to voodoo rituals, alligator attacks and other topics that make for good reality television.

Some of the scenes were staged versions of past incidents, according to both Fonseca and the Sheriff's Office.

“It is our understanding that some scenes that were filmed for the ‘Cajun Justice' television show consist of incidents that were previously reported to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office,” officials said in a statement. “These scenes were recreated by the film crew for filming purposes, and those deputies who participated in such scenes did so off-duty.”

Fonseca, who worked with the Water Patrol before he left the agency for his higher-paying job, said he often took the film crew out on boats. When he brought them along on his patrols, the Sheriff's Office paid him, and the production company, MAK Pictures, did not compensate him, he said. When he worked off-duty, which he would do while staging scenes, the company would pay the Sheriff's Office for his hours worked. That money would later show up on his paycheck.

The first episode includes a story line of deputies searching for a drug dealer. It also introduces two deputies, Melissa Quintal and Paul Thibodeaux. Quintal “responds to the report of a nighttime voodoo ritual taking place in an abandoned shed deep in the bayou,” according to the site.

Thibodeaux “delves into a case of an ornery citizen who plans to takes justice into his own hands after his air conditioner was snitched during a heat wave.”

The second episode appears to focus on deputies' attempts to handle an alligator threat, while delving into Quintal's relationship with her alligator-hunter boyfriend, Jacob Lirette. The summary also mentions that Fonseca and another deputy are “sent out in the dead of night to one of the strangest and eeriest bayou calls they've ever seen.”

Some Terrebonne residents say they are nervous that the show won't portray the parish in a favorable light.

“I was excited about it at first,” said Gibson resident Brittany Williams, 26. “But after reading some articles and seeing clips of it on the A&E website, I fear it's only going to give Terrebonne Parish a bad name. Seems it'll be just another show downgrading the bayou region. Plus, I'm over all of the cheesy, 30-minute, staged reality TV shows.”

Houma resident Jennifer Picou, 23, said she thinks Bourgeois should not have agreed to let producers film the show.

“There are enough crazy Cajun shows making America think that we are some dumb people who just eat a lot and hunt alligators,” Picou said. “I won't be watching the show because I think this was a horrible decision on Vernon (Bourgeois)'s part.”

Others are excited to see the deputies in action.

“It will be interesting see what our police force have to put up with,” said Gray resident Veronica Mackles, 41. “People need to watch this show to get a better understanding of the crime and what our police officers endure on a daily basis. I think the crime rate with the youth alone has risen dramatically. Maybe we will see a change in our community if we see for ourselves what is going on.”

Daigle said viewers may get a somewhat accurate insight into how the Sheriff's Office functions.

“A lot of the stuff that was in the media, the little clips they put on the Internet, kind of got some bad responses,” Daigle said. “They were kind of taken out of context. For the most part, I think it'll be good for the area. It will give people a little understanding of what the deputies do there from day to day.”

Still, MAK Pictures focused on filming bayou-themed material, though the Sheriff's Office responds to many of the same crimes police forces across America respond to, Daigle said.

“On a day-to-day basis, (the Sheriff's Office) also handles a lot of things agencies don't handle, like animal complaints and things you probably would only find in that area because of the culture and the lifestyle,” he said. “These are the things they would want to film.”

Staff Writer Eric Heisig

contributed to this report.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski

<p>In recent weeks, former deputies Jacob Fonseca and Merlin Daigle have dealt with a lot of good-natured teasing.</p><p>The two are among officers featured in “Cajun Justice,” the reality show about the Terrebonne Sheriff's Office, premieres on the A&E network at 9 p.m.</p><p>Fonseca and Daigle's co-workers have put up photos printed from the show's website, featuring the men standing stone-faced with arms crossed, in their Pennsylvania office where they are now sales representatives for Blackhawk Specialty Tools. </p><p>“We've moved states away, and we still hear about the TV show,” said Fonseca, nicknamed “Funkie Nuts” on the show. “The guys at work tease us every day and told us they set their DVRs to record every show. They've been telling all of our customers about it, and they think it's pretty funny too. ... But I'm going to act the same whether there's a camera behind me or there isn't.”</p><p>A&E will show two new episodes back-to-back tonight. Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois is even in California for the show's premiere, a trip that was paid for by the production company, said Maj. Malcolm Wolfe, Sheriff's Office spokesman.</p><p>Previews suggest the first two episodes will introduce Bourgeois and some of his deputies and follow several different cases. Deputies respond to voodoo rituals, alligator attacks and other topics that make for good reality television.</p><p>Some of the scenes were staged versions of past incidents, according to both Fonseca and the Sheriff's Office.</p><p>“It is our understanding that some scenes that were filmed for the 'Cajun Justice' television show consist of incidents that were previously reported to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office,” officials said in a statement. “These scenes were recreated by the film crew for filming purposes, and those deputies who participated in such scenes did so off-duty.”</p><p>Fonseca, who worked with the Water Patrol before he left the agency for his higher-paying job, said he often took the film crew out on boats. When he brought them along on his patrols, the Sheriff's Office paid him, and the production company, MAK Pictures, did not compensate him, he said. When he worked off-duty, which he would do while staging scenes, the company would pay the Sheriff's Office for his hours worked. That money would later show up on his paycheck.</p><p>The first episode includes a story line of deputies searching for a drug dealer. It also introduces two deputies, Melissa Quintal and Paul Thibodeaux. Quintal “responds to the report of a nighttime voodoo ritual taking place in an abandoned shed deep in the bayou,” according to the site. </p><p>Thibodeaux “delves into a case of an ornery citizen who plans to takes justice into his own hands after his air conditioner was snitched during a heat wave.”</p><p>The second episode appears to focus on deputies' attempts to handle an alligator threat, while delving into Quintal's relationship with her alligator-hunter boyfriend, Jacob Lirette. The summary also mentions that Fonseca and another deputy are “sent out in the dead of night to one of the strangest and eeriest bayou calls they've ever seen.”</p><p>Some Terrebonne residents say they are nervous that the show won't portray the parish in a favorable light.</p><p>“I was excited about it at first,” said Gibson resident Brittany Williams, 26. “But after reading some articles and seeing clips of it on the A&E website, I fear it's only going to give Terrebonne Parish a bad name. Seems it'll be just another show downgrading the bayou region. Plus, I'm over all of the cheesy, 30-minute, staged reality TV shows.”</p><p>Houma resident Jennifer Picou, 23, said she thinks Bourgeois should not have agreed to let producers film the show.</p><p>“There are enough crazy Cajun shows making America think that we are some dumb people who just eat a lot and hunt alligators,” Picou said. “I won't be watching the show because I think this was a horrible decision on Vernon (Bourgeois)'s part.”</p><p>Others are excited to see the deputies in action.</p><p>“It will be interesting see what our police force have to put up with,” said Gray resident Veronica Mackles, 41. “People need to watch this show to get a better understanding of the crime and what our police officers endure on a daily basis. I think the crime rate with the youth alone has risen dramatically. Maybe we will see a change in our community if we see for ourselves what is going on.”</p><p>Daigle said viewers may get a somewhat accurate insight into how the Sheriff's Office functions.</p><p>“A lot of the stuff that was in the media, the little clips they put on the Internet, kind of got some bad responses,” Daigle said. “They were kind of taken out of context. For the most part, I think it'll be good for the area. It will give people a little understanding of what the deputies do there from day to day.”</p><p>Still, MAK Pictures focused on filming bayou-themed material, though the Sheriff's Office responds to many of the same crimes police forces across America respond to, Daigle said.</p><p>“On a day-to-day basis, (the Sheriff's Office) also handles a lot of things agencies don't handle, like animal complaints and things you probably would only find in that area because of the culture and the lifestyle,” he said. “These are the things they would want to film.”</p><p>Staff Writer Eric Heisig </p><p>contributed to this report. </p><p>Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski</p><p>@dailycomet.com.</p>